Passengers bound for Paris, Chicago, Newark and Riyadh were kept waiting for up to three hours.

Air India is suffering financial difficulties, and cabin crew are protesting non-payment of salaries and "sustenance allowance" paid in foreign exchange for meals, transportation and incidental expenses when they are on a layover abroad.

"What we have been saying is that we won't operate flights to destinations which involve layovers as we will have to spend from our pockets and that is difficult when we have not received salaries for two months," an attendant told one newspaper.

A member of the All-India Cabin Crew Association refused to comment on what steps the airline was taking to quell the protest, according to news reports.